


I want you to want me

by willowycreature



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 10 Things I Hate About You AU kind of?, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, maybe some angst? not sure yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-03-20 15:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18995458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowycreature/pseuds/willowycreature
Summary: “My mom won’t let us go on our date unless it’s a double date with your sister.”“Oh that’s it? I’m pretty sure Sansa will be cool with that.” Sansa would actually love going on a double date with them, she had squealed on the phone when he told her that he asked Myrcella out. Jon probably would not be as cool with it, but he’d tag along anyway for Sansa.“She meant Arya, Bran.” Myrcella stated with sorrow.This was not good, he thought. Double dates didn’t seem like the sort of thing Arya would entertain and even if they were he wouldn’t even know who’d she go with.“But Arya isn't even seeing anyone!”





	1. Chapter 1

Bran feels- he feels on top of the world. He feels like one of those guys from the John Hughes movies that he’d sometimes (all of the time) watched with Sansa. 

Bran Stark had finally asked out Myrcella Baratheon yesterday and he still feels like he’s on a high.

When Bran had found out that Myrcella was going to be his chemistry partner he wasn’t exactly thrilled. He’d had enough of that blonde Baratheon shit, Joffrey, when he dated Sansa and he was already bracing himself for the female version. 

Bran knew of Myrcella, but that’s not the same as knowing someone. She was one of the most popular juniors and she was technically a Baratheon _and _a Lannister. Her brother might have been a piece of shit but he was a rich and popular piece of shit and those types of legacies carry down to siblings. He’d heard a bunch of things about Myrcella, and most of them were conflicting. Some people said that she was sweet as chocolate chip cookies and then other people said that she was just a prettier, tamer version of Joffrey (she’s not _that _sweet but she wasn’t like Joffrey by a long shot.)____

____Bran knew he shouldn’t have listened to the gossip, he knows first hand that people expected him to be something he wasn’t just because of who his siblings were. They’d all thought that he would be on the football team like Robb, but track was more his thing. While Bran was smart like Sansa he wasn’t nearly as outgoing as she was, he hadn’t joined any of the clubs people tried to recruit him in. Bran’s not going to lie, he can be as mischievous as Arya, but tries not to be a trouble maker at school._ _ _ _

____The thing about Myrcella is… she’s different, okay? He’d given her the cold shoulder in the beginning, only talking to her when needed, and she hadn’t taken any of his shit. Bran would be the first person to admit that he was terse with her in the, so he couldn’t really blame her when she asked if there was a button she had to press to turn off his douchebag setting. He might’ve laughed and he most defiantly did not feel his heart race when she smiled and said that she always knew he wasn’t an emotionless robot._ _ _ _

____Over the few weeks he started to get to know her more. He’d started to notice things about her, like that she reminded him of Sansa sometimes. Not in a weird way or anything, just that they both could be princesses and not be ashamed of it. People at school thought she was fake, that she was a bitch, that her nice girl act was just that, an act._ _ _ _

____The thing about Myrcella though is that she _could _be a bitch, but that’s not all she was. She’s not nice to the jocks who treat Joffrey like he’s the second coming of the warrior, but he wouldn’t hold that against her (if anything it made him warm up to her more). He’s also not going to lie and say her kindness is always genuine. He can tell the difference between her being kind because she wanted to or when she needed something from someone and when it came to the latter she was usually overly friendly.___ _ _ _

______People didn’t know her like he was getting to know her._ _ _ _ _ _

______She had made a point in that class would be boring if they didn’t at least talk to each other and through those talks he learnt more and more about who Myrcella really was. She loved fashion, which Bran could tell just seeing how well put together she was. They had similar taste in music and both of them could relate to being the middle child. Something that surprised him was that how much she loved chess and how good she was at it. They’d played once during lunch and shed beat him beautifully._ _ _ _ _ _

______He knew that she might have not understood why he liked conspiracy theories or true crime and history but she still listened and asked questions when he rambled on. He did the same when she talked about particular fashion designers and why they no longer inspire her like they use to. He might not how understood much about fashion but he liked seeing her eyes light up when she explained to him what exactly classified as couture._ _ _ _ _ _

______He’s on his way to lunch when he sees Myrcella waiting by his locker with a worried look on her face. Bran feels his heart drop and all he can think about is that she probably changed her mind and doesn’t want out go out with him anymore._ _ _ _ _ _

______Oh gods what if she’d rather go out with Trystane?_ _ _ _ _ _

______She catches sight of him and a smile widens and that at least has him walking faster towards her._ _ _ _ _ _

______She grabs his hand, “Bran we need to talk” she states sternly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Already?” he swallows, “don’t we have to start dating before you dump me.” The joke sounds flat to his ears and it must’ve to Myrcella’s because she narrows her eyes at him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What are you talking about?” She shakes her head and plows on, “I’m not dumping you Bran but we have a problem.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Can I fix it?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______She gives him a sarcastic smile that makes his heart skip a beat. Myrcella releases a deep breath before she answers him, “hopefully we can fix this.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay, what’s up?” He’s trying not to fixate on her saying _we _.___ _ _ _ _ _

________“My mom won’t let us go on our date unless it’s a double date with your sister.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Oh that’s it? I’m pretty sure Sansa will be cool with that.” Sansa would actually love going on a double date with them, she had squealed on the phone when he told her that he asked Myrcella out. Jon probably would not be as cool with it, but he’d tag along anyway for Sansa._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“She meant Arya, Bran.” Myrcella stated with sorrow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________This was not good, he thought. Double dates didn’t seem like the sort of thing Arya would entertain and even if they were he wouldn’t even know who’d she go with._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“But Arya isn't even seeing anyone!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I think that was my mom’s point when she made the condition.” Myrcella was chewing on her lip and Bran knows how much she hates when people do that. Old Gods and New, Myrcella was freaking out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“We don’t have to tell your mom, we could just sneak out?” Bran proposed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I’m not lying to my mom, Bran,” she was glaring at him now. “I don’t even get it! Arya’s pretty! It shouldn’t be hard to find a date for her.” Myrcella was being so matter of fact about it that Bran almost didn’t have the heart to tell her why she was wrong._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It didn’t matter that Arya was indeed pretty; Arya didn’t have anything but disdain for the guys at their school. He’d seen her turn down Ned Dayne in front of everyone when he had asked her out to homecoming. Ned has sung her a song of all things and while all of the girls had thought it was romantic, Arya had been cringing at the spectacle of it all. She had just given Ned a simple no and walked away with Beth Cassel and Lommy and Hotpie on their heels. Gendry had the sense to walk away when the Ned had started to sing, no doubt already knowing where that was headed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The guys at school were to afraid to humiliate themselves now, no matter how much they might’ve liked Arya. Pride was a strong emotion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Cella, listen, I’ll figure something out. I’m taking you on this date.” Bran didn’t know how but when she flashed him the most beautiful grin and kissed him on the cheek he knew he’d find a way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. Chapter 2

After the last bell rang he Bran texted his mom and told her that he was going to Sansa’s for a bit. Catelyn had been more than thrilled to hear that and hadn’t asked anymore questions.

Despite telling Myrcella that Bran would figure out their situation Bran hadn’t come up with anything. He was thinking of asking Ned Dayne since they were both on track and pretty friendly with each other but the moment he mentioned Arya’s name Ned had gotten bright red and told Bran that he’d had to take a call. Bran doesn’t remember his phone ringing but he knows a dismissal when he hears one.

So Ned was crossed off his list of suitors.

This was more Sansa’s forte, so he decided he’d pop up to her apartment and have her tell him what to do. He hadn’t exactly told her beforehand that he was coming but Bran’s pretty sure that he’s her favorite sibling. 99% sure that he’s her favorite anyway. 

He’d just gotten out of the car when he came physically to a stop. Sansa lives Jon, as in Jon who is now her boyfriend. Maybe he should have told her he was coming, but he’s already here. 

After knocking on his door Bran braces himself for the worst when the door swings open a couple of seconds later. It’s just… Jon trying to keep Ghost and Lady from escaping out of the door and Sansa standing in front of him. How domestic and mundane of them Bran thinks. 

“Bran? Did something happen?” Her brows her furrowed when she asks and Jon yells to let Bran in so he can let the dogs go. 

He shuts the door behind him and grabs Sansa’s hands so that she knows that Bran isn’t fucking around, he needs her help. His romantic life depends on her now. 

“Sansa I have a problem?” 

“Does Myrcella not want to date you anymore? Or do you not want to date her anymore? No offence Bran, but I always thought she was kind of insipid.”

“Jon!” He and Sansa both yell, him in outrage and her because she’s embarrassed.

“You told him?” Bran accuses.

“I mean yeah? I was right there when you called,” Jon shrugs and goes to sit on what of the armchairs.

Why had Bran been so happy when Sansa had told him they were dating again? 

“Now Bran, what’s the problem?” Sansa’s in big sister mode so he quashes down his irritation some. 

It didn’t work he’s still irritated. “For your information, Myrcella and I are very much still going on this date. And she’d beat your ass in chess so many times that you’d never want to play again!”

“I already don’t want to play? I don’t even know how to play chess.”

They’re going off topic and his clock was ticking. 

“Sansa, I have a problem and only you can fix it.”

“What is it?”

He sits on one of the couches and wrinkles his nose when Jon pulls her into her lap. Gods its like they’re attached to the hip or something. 

“Myrcella’s mom won’t let me take her out unless it’s a double date with Arya.”

Jon barks out a laugh, which earns him a glare from Bran and an elbow in the rib from Sansa.

“Bran I thought you were in some kind of trouble!” Sansa sounds annoyed. 

“I am in trouble! You don’t get it Sansa, the guys at our school fear her!”

“Go Arya,” Jon says sounding impressed. 

“And you thought I could help you because?” Sansa asks, raising a brow at him while flicking red hair off her shoulder that slaps Jon in the face. 

“Don’t you love romance, Sansa? You’re the one who got Theon and Jeyne together.”

“I didn’t actually get them together, I caught them together which forced them to date publicly.” Sansa points out as if that’s two separate things. 

“Sansa, just throw me a bone over here.” 

“Why didn’t you just ask Gendry?” Jon asks sounding like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

Sansa looks at Jon as if he just came up with the solution of world peace or something. 

“What? Sansa I can’t even count how many times we’ve seen clueless but I learnt I thing or two.”  
Gendry, the more Bran thinks about it the more it makes sense. 

“Jon, I can’t believe I’m saying this but you’re a genius.”

“Thank you?”

“Gendry knows Arya better than anyone, he’d know who’d she’d be interested in!”

“Bran I don’t think that’s what Jon mea-”

“I got to go, but I’ll talk to you guys later!”

 

…

 

The next morning, at breakfast, Bran was trying to avoid Arya’s eyes. She had this weird way of just knowing things just by looking at you. 

“What did you do?” Her voice was suspicious and Bran almost spilled the milk he was pouring into his cereal. 

“Huh? Me? I didn’t do anything?”

“Were you the one who ate my ice cream that is specifically said was only for me?” 

Bran almost let out a sigh of relief, this had something to do with her food.

“You know I don’t like mint chocolate chip, Arya. That ice cream is for heathens. It was probably dad, you guys are practically the same person.”

At the mention of Ned Arya’s lip quirked a bit, but then she looked at him with furrowed brows. 

“Bran are you okay? You’re acting fidgety. Is someone bullying you or something? Just tell me a name and I’ll handle it.”

He felt his heart swell and also felt guilty. She was looking out for him and all Bran had been doing was try to find her a date so he could make Myrcella his girlfriend for real. 

“I asked Myrcella out, so I was just thinking of that.” Bran said with a shrug, it was the truth, well half of the truth. 

Arya’s eyes brightened and she came over to ruffle his hair.  
“See you worried for nothing, I knew she’d want to go out with you.”

“Yeah I guess –”

“Also next time you take the car to go anywhere give me a heads up first so I don’t look like a moron thinking our car got stolen.”

That’s fair.

“You got it.” 

 

…

 

When he meets Gendry, it’s a coincidence. They see each other in the bathroom and Gendry gives him a nod while washing his hands. Bran decides this is the best time as any to talk to him alone.

“Hey Gendry, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure Bran, shoot.” Gendry seems like he’s all tough but he’s a real softie. He had helped Arya make signs for Bran’s track meet and was by her side when they were cheering him on. He also always helps out whenever something’s up with their car before they even ask. 

“Do you know if Arya’s into anyone?”

“You want to know, if your sister is into anyone? Why is someone into her?” He sounds as suspicious as Arya did this morning. 

He explains his situation to Gendry and its while he’s explaining does he realize that Myrcella and Gendry are half siblings. Maybe Bran should talk about how much he cares about her? Just when he’s about to Gendry cuts him off.

“I’ll do it.” Gendry says with a shrug.

“Are you sure, I mean we could just find – ”

“No Bran, seriously, I’ll do it.” Gendry says in a tone that brooks no arguments. 

“Well it’s up to you to ask her out.” Bran points out, he feels like a weight just lifted off of his shoulders. 

“Don’t worry about it, leave that part to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is going to slow, but the story is finally starting? It's goign to start shifting POVs now 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your comments!


	3. Chapter 3

If Gendry really wanted to think about it Bran was being really dramatic, he could’ve just told Arya what his problem was and she’d probably have helped him out. Maybe she would have asked Gendry to come with her so the double date would be bearable. 

Or maybe she would’ve asked someone else and they might have hit it off so much that they would date for real.

Yeah Gendry was not going to wait and find out. 

The thing is he doesn’t even know when he started to develop feelings for Arya Stark. Maybe it was when he saw that prick (Ned’s not really a prick, okay? The guy is so nice even he can’t hate him) ask Arya to homecoming by song. It could also have been when she was trying to convince him to let her tutor him in math and called him bullheaded before he finally relented, his heart may have skipped a beat when she smacked him on the arm and asked why he was so stubborn. 

He doesn’t know when it started but he knows exactly how it started. 

She's pretty, he knows that. When he looks into her grey eyes he feels like he's been pulled in. She keeps her brown hair up to her shoulders now but he remembered even when it was all choppy that it just worked on her. When she laughs, Gendry can't seem to look away and he doesn't even care how dopey is grin is because he loves hearing her laugh. She's got these different kinds of smiles, the sly one, the soft one, the genuine one, the feral one, and Gendry likes the look of them on her. 

He knows that people like to compare her to Sansa but to him it's always been Arya and he doesn't ever see that changing.

She’s as willful as he is stubborn, though the both of them won’t admit it. If you told Arya that she’s not allowed to do something, there’s a chance that she would do exactly that. 

He’s seen her and her sister, Sansa, so many times but he knows that the both of them love each other deeply. They were in freshman year when the Joffrey situation happened and he never would forget how much anger a tiny person like her could hold. Joffrey was his half brother but he didn’t have any loyalty to him, so being a look out for when she decided to have Hot Pie and Lommy help her key and egg his car was a no brainer. She had wanted to do actual bodily harm to the prick but Robb and Jon had beat her to it. 

He could go on. Literally he wrote a list, he didn’t know who he could talk to about this, and his cousin, Shireen, always told him that writing out is feelings could help. The first thing he wrote was that she made him feel like he belonged, that he had someone who cared about what happened to him. 

He knows he has Shireen, but she’s his cousin so she kind of has to care about him. His Uncle Stannis cares in his own way but the man doesn’t even know how to express emotions to his own daughter, so Gendry’s not expected much there. Selyse… well she’s there. His mom died when he was three, but he still has some memories of her and he knows if she was still around that she would care about what happened to him, that she would love him. He knows she loved him he remembers that, but living off of a memory of her love for him feels like it’s slowly draining the life out of him.

His dad didn’t know how to keep it in his pants but the one good thing that man did, besides paying child support, was give him his other siblings. Myrcella and Tommen are good kids but they’re not like him. He doesn’t know what it is like living the life that they do, but he does know that they could want for nothing.  
Mya’s great but she’s off at college at the Vale, she has more memories with their father and apparently she’s the favorite out of all of them. There’s Edric too, who can be a spoiled brat, but the kid’s heart is the right place. Edric lives in the Stormlands though and the only time he sees him is during summer when they both go to visit Mya.

They’re all his family though, so he’ll always feel like they’re forced to love him. Arya cares about him just because he’s her friend and then through Arya he’d gotten more friends who cared about him too.

So, yes, Gendry knows how it all started but he never knew what it was he was going to do about it.

 

…

 

He would have asked Lommy and Hot Pie for help but knowing the both of them they’d probably tell Arya that he wanted to ask her, she’d never believe he was being genuine if those two idiots told her first.

He couldn’t go to Bran, he’s sure the kid would have a nervous breakdown if he asked for his advice.

So here he is, in Shireen’s room, asking his fourteen year old cousin how to ask the girl he’s crazy for on a date. He’d just told her everything he learnt from Bran and asked how he should go about and he’s waiting for her answer with a bated breath.

They’ve got the same eyes bright blue eyes, the Baratheon eyes, and it feels like she’s staring into his soul. 

“Why don’t you just, you know, go up to her and ask her?” She says, with a tilt of her head and curious tone to her voice. 

“Because I don’t know if she’ll believe me.” It’s when those words leave his mouth that Gendry knows why his stomach has been in knots all day. What if Arya thought he was just messing with her, he’d like to spill his guts to her but if she doesn’t feel the same way he doesn’t want to lose her has a friend too. 

“Well you’ll never know if you don’t ask her!”

“You don’t get it, Shireen.” 

“I get it!” Shireen lets out a huff, “I read books! In the books the characters always have to go through so much unnecessary heartache because they’re just too scared to confess!”   
“Shireen this isn’t a book.”

Her face falls and he always hates when he sees that look on her face, the one where she looks utterly defeated. Sometimes he wishes he wasn’t so brash but he doesn’t know how else to have told her that.

“Gendry, you’re the best big brother in the world. You always take me to every movie I want to see, even though I know you don’t really like them. You never let anyone pick on me and you have such a big heart. I just want to see you happy.”

He feels his throat closing up, Shireen’s always been the openly affectionate one, he’d always been quieter about it. She calls him her brother every now and then and it never fails to make his heart feel full.

He reaches out to ruffle her hair a bit and pulls her under his arm and kisses her hair.

“So you think all I need to do is ask her out?” 

“You should tell Bran to mention that he’s going on a date with Myrcella and then ask Arya if she’d like to go with you on a date too or something?”

He wishes Bran had just told Arya what was going on so when he asked her it wouldn’t sound forced or stilted. 

Or he could just tell her what Bran told him about Arya needing to be the one to go on the double date with them and he’d like to be her date. That sounded safer, they could work from there.

“What if you sang her a song during her fencing practice!”

Him? Singing? Maybe as a last resort, but even then he doesn’t seem likely.

“If I sang to her, you’d be the first person to know, Shireen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually made me sad. I'm sorry if I'm going too slow or something I've just been feeling down lately and this is the only thing I could write. Thanks for reading and I'd love to read your feedback. 
> 
> I actually really feel bad with how slow and short this chapter is, but I also really liked it?

**Author's Note:**

> Would you guys actually want to read this? I've been wanting to write this for a while, so let me know your thoughts!
> 
> You can find me on twitter @eliaamartells where i talk about how much I hate Rhaegar or if you want to talk about ships.
> 
> Thank you!


End file.
